Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite's death brought back many memories from a bygone era in television news. As anchors go he was a cut above, then and now. And, for that I give him his due, and say, 'Rest in peace.'

However, I have seen over-the-top statements about Cronkite since his death that bear little resemblance to reality. He was not as non-partisan as people like to think. He used his position to lobby against the Viet Nam War while our troops were still in the field losing their lives, and he openly opposed Ronald Reagan from 1975 until he was elected in 1981.

No doubt Cronkite made an honest attempt to be as objective as he could, but he certainly did not always succeed, and by the last years of his career he had succumbed to the very same scourge that all talking heads on television news exhibit--the dreadful bias and slant that favors liberals.

In retirement he advocated 'one world government.'

Not exactly a great 'patriot.'

The Quintessential Example of Media Hypocrisy

A couple of days ago Matt Drudge caused a firestorm of controversy to sweep conservative circles when he reported that NBC was considering banning columnist Ann Coulter 'for life.'

That may yet happen, no doubt, but not yet.

Coulter appeared on NBC's Today Show yesterday morning, and once again caused liberals and mainstream media types to grind their teeth--all as part of making her rounds to promote her new book.

But, as L. Brent Bozell III writes at CNS News, the mainstream media's treatment of Coulter is a blatant example of just how thoroughly partisan it is...and how much it hates the truth.

States Bozell:

It’s easy to run down a list of inflammatory liberals who are welcomed on the TV morning shows. Start with Kitty Kelley’s wild “investigative” books on the Reagans or the Bushes. Or Michael Moore’s kooky conspiracy theories. Or Al Franken suggesting Karl Rove and Scooter Libby should be executed over Plamegate. (NBC’s Matt Lauer and his off-camera crew laughed at that.)

Or recall Bill Maher on his HBO show in 2007 suggesting Arianna Huffington shouldn’t ban commenters on her website wishing Dick Cheney had died in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan. “That’s a funny joke,” Maher said. “If this isn’t China, shouldn’t you be able to say that?” He added that Cheney’s death by suicide bomber might be a public service: “I’m just saying if he did die, other people, more people would live. That’s a fact.”

Harry Smith hosted Maher on CBS just months ago on his faith-mocking movie “Religulous” and didn’t say one discouraging word to him about his caustic remarks about Cheney or his hateful anti-Christian bigotry. Not one word.

And yet, when Coulter exhibits the very same type of acerbic rhetoric aimed at liberals instead of conservatives, the mainstream media in its false righteous indignation acts as if it has the moral authority to pronounce judgment.

Not as long as Matthews, Olbermann, Harry Smith, Matt Lauer, Michael Moore, or Al Franken are around...

And therefore, the Coulter flap is the quintessential example of media hypocrisy.

'Quotes of the Year' Through the Eyes of a Liberal

When a liberal compiles a supposedly definitive volume on the 'quotes of the year,' we can rest assured the quips chosen will most assuredly reflect the bias of the compiler.

This is especially true when the liberal in question is a Yale professor.

Fred Shapiro is a Yale historian who compiles a yearly volume entitled, The Yale Book of Quotations.'

Mainstream media reporters love it because it gives them another opportunity to lampoon conservatives and Republicans while extolling the virtues and 'wisdom' of liberals and Democrats.

The problem is that the book is presented as a standard, objective, and non-partisan source of quotations...which is always the cover behind which liberals hide so they can spout their venom while claiming objectivity.

Take a look and see for yourself via Michelle Malkin.